willing, but 'in peace' according to what was said to Abraham: 'you shall go to your fathers in peace'. Who is he who is released 'in peace' but he who has understood that 'God was <in Christ the world> reconciling to himself' and no longer <having> any work of enmity toward God, but having received all peace through good works. 16.95.20 At what 'things spoken about him' were Joseph and his mother marveling? At the things by the shepherds, by whom the report was spreading that Christ was born, <and> by 16.96 Simeon in his very saying: 'now you are releasing', which was the crown of the things spoken about him. And Joseph as father he wonder fully establishes, not as a father proclaiming, having said this, but he further prophesies about the child, having blessed the father and the mother, and says: 'Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising'. And similar to it is that in John: 'For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind'; just as therefore 'those who do not see' from the nations 'see,' and those from Israel 'become blind,' so he came 'for the fall and rising' of us. For those standing have fallen and those who have fallen have risen at Christ's coming. 16.99 But this also has a deeper interpretation; I have something standing in me; let this fall, 'the inner man' of mine had fallen, my outer man was standing. Before faith what did we have? The better part having fallen, the worse part awakened. But when Christ came, then that which was standing, my worse part, has fallen; 'Put to death,' it says, 'the members that are on the earth: fornication, impurity' and the rest. And since a fall has occurred—'for where the corpse is, there also are the eagles'—this fall is good, upon which Jesus first came. 17.100 The blessed Luke, who clearly set before us that the savior was the son of a virgin, not from a man, he has now proclaimed Joseph his father. Why then did he call him father who neither sowed nor was the cause of his birth? It might be said more simply, that the Holy Spirit honored him with the 17.101 appellation of father, since he had raised him. But if it is necessary to say something even deeper, we shall say: since the genealogy traced Joseph from David, so that the genealogy might not seem superfluous in coming to Joseph as the betrothed of the virgin who did not beget the savior, so that the genealogy might have a suitable reason, he was proclaimed father of the Lord, even if 'before they came together she was found' pregnant. 17.102 I consider the Lord to be 'for the fall and rising' not of some falling and others rising, but of the same person, 'for the fall' of the worse part 'and rising' of the better, of the worse part falling and the better part rising up; for the Lord's epiphany is destructive of bodily passions, but arousing of the soul's properties. 17.103 But one must understand it this way, that he who stands in sin through repentance falls and dies from it to sin. And the first benefit is for the one standing in sin to fall and to die to sin, then to live to righteousness and to rise again, the faith in Christ bestowing each of these on us; let the worse things fall, so that the better things may have an opportunity for rising. If 17.104 fornication does not fall, self-control does not rise; if irrationality is not crushed, the rational part in us will not flourish; so thus is the fall and rising of many. 17.105 Then he says: 'and a sword will pierce through your own soul also'; and by sword he means the doubt and the temptation, which pierced through her soul at the time of the cross. 17.106 It appears, <that around the> time of the passion all were scandalized; <for he himself> said, <that: 'all> you will be scandalized in me'>. Do we think that Mary alone was pure from scandal? but if all fall short of the glory of God, being justified ... by his grace ... Therefore Simeon prophesies also about the holy virgin Mary herself, that: standing by the cross and seeing the things that happened and hearing the voices of the murderers, after the witness of Gabriel

θέλων, ἀλλ' «ἐν εἰρήνῃ» κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν τῷ Ἀβραάμ· «ἀπε λεύσῃ πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας σου μετ' εἰρήνης». Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ «μετ' εἰρήνης» ἀπαλλασσόμενος ἢ ὁ νοήσας, ὅτι «θεὸς ἦν <ἐν Χριστῷ κόσμον> κατ αλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ» καὶ μηκέτι ἔργον τι ἔχθρας <ἔχων> πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν εἰρήνην ἀναλα βὼν δι' ἔργων ἀγαθῶν. 16.95.20 Ἐπὶ ποίοις δὲ «λαλουμένοις περὶ αὐτοῦ» ἐθαύμαζον Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ; Ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ποι μένων, ὑφ' ὧν ἡ φήμη διέτρεχεν, ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς γεγέννηται, <καὶ> ὑπὸ 16.96 τοῦ Συμεῶνος ἐπ' αὐτῷ τῷ εἰπεῖν· «νῦν ἀπολύεις», ὃ ἦν ἡ κορωνὶς τῶν λαλουμένων περὶ αὐτοῦ. Εἰς πατέρα δὲ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ θαυ <μαστῶς τίθησι, οὐ πατέρα> κηρυ κεύων τοῦτο εἰπών, ἀλλ' ἐπιπρο φητεύει περὶ τοῦ παιδίου, εὐλογή σας τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, καί φησιν· «Ἰδοὺ οὗτος κεῖται εἰς πτῶ σιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν». Ὅμοιον δὲ αὐτῷ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην τό· «εἰς κρίμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ οἱ βλέπον τες τυφλοὶ γένωνται»· ὥσπερ οὖν «οἱ μὴ βλέποντες» ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν «βλέ πουσι», καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ «τυφ λοὶ γίνονται», οὕτως ἦλθεν «εἰς πτῶ σιν καὶ ἀνάστασιν» ἡμῶν. Οἱ γὰρ ἑστη κότες πεπτώκασι καὶ οἱ πεπτωκότες ἀνέστησαν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημήσαντος. 16.99 Ἔχει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ βαθυτέραν διήγησιν· ἔχω τι ἑστὸς ἐν ἐμοί· τοῦτο πε σέτω, «ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος» πεπτωκώς μου ἦν, ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωπός μου εἱστήκει. Πρὸ τῆς πίστεως τίνα εἴχομεν; τὸ κρεῖττον πεπτωκός, τὸ χεῖρον διε γηγερμένον. Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν Χριστός, τότε τὸ ἑστηκὸς πέπτωκέ μου τὸ χεῖρον· «νεκρώσατε», φησίν, «τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πτῶμα γέγονεν- «ὅπου γὰρ πτῶμα, ἐκεῖ καὶ οἱ ἀε τοί»-, καλὸν τοῦτο τὸ πτῶμα, ἐφ' ὃ ἦλθεν πρῶτος ὁ Ἰησοῦς. 17.100 Ὁ μακάριος Λουκᾶς, ὁ σαφῶς ἡμῖν παραστήσας, ὅτι παρθένου υἱὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἦν, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνδρός, οὗτος πατέρα αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ νῦν ἀνη γόρευσεν. Πρὸς τί οὖν πατέρα εἶπε τὸν μὴ σπείραντα μηδὲ αἴτιον αὐτῷ γενό μενον τῆς γενέσεως; Ἁπλούστερον μὲν λέγοιτο ἄν, ὅτι ἐτίμησεν αὐτὸν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς 17.101 προσηγορίᾳ, ἐπειδήπερ ἀνεθρέψατο αὐτόν. Εἰ δὲ δεῖ τι εἰπεῖν καὶ βαθύ τερον, ἐροῦμεν· ἐπεὶ ἡ γενεαλογία ἐγενεαλόγησε τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ ∆α βίδ, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ περιττὴ εἶναι ἡ γενεαλογία ἐρχομένη ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰω σὴφ ὡς μνήστορα τῆς παρθένου μὴ γεννήσαντα τὸν σωτῆρα, ἵνα ἡ γενεαλογία λόγον ἔχῃ ἐπιτήδειον, πατὴρ ἀνηγορεύθη τοῦ κυρίου, εἰ καὶ «πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εὑ ρέθη» ἔγκυος. 17.102 Ἡγοῦμαι «εἰς πτῶσιν καὶ ἀνά στασιν» εἶναι τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἄλλων πιπτόντων καὶ ἄλλων ἀνισταμένων, ἀλλὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ, «εἰς πτῶσιν» τοῦ χείρονος «καὶ ἀνάστασιν» τοῦ βελτίο νος, τοῦ χείρονος πίπτοντος καὶ τοῦ βελτίονος διανισταμένου· καθαιρε τικὴ μὲν γάρ ἐστι τῶν σωματικῶν παθῶν ἡ τοῦ κυρίου ἐπιφάνεια, δι εγερτικὴ δὲ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἰδιω μάτων. 17.103 Ἀλλ' οὕτως χρὴ νοεῖν, ὅτι ὁ ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἱστάμενος διὰ τῆς μετα νοίας πίπτει καὶ ἀποθνῄσκει ἐξ αὐτῆς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Πρώτη δὲ εὐεργεσία τὸν στήκοντα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ πεσεῖν καὶ ἀποθανεῖν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, εἶτα ζῆσαι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀναστῆναι, τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πί στεως ἑκάτερον ἡμῖν χαριζομένης· πιπτέτω τὰ χείρονα, ἵνα λάβῃ καιρὸν τὰ βελτίω εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἐὰν 17.104 μὴ πέσῃ ἡ πορνεία, ἡ σωφροσύνη οὐκ ἀνίσταται, ἐὰν μὴ ἡ ἀλογία συντριβῇ, τὸ λογικὸν τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἀνθήσει· οὕτως οὖν ἡ πτῶσις καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις πολλῶν. 17.105 Εἶτά φησιν· «καὶ σοῦ δὲ αὐτῆς τὴν ψυχὴν διελεύσεται ῥομφαία»· καὶ ῥομφαίαν φησὶ τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν καὶ τὸ πειρατήριον, ἥτις διῆλθεν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ. 17.106 Φαίνεται, <ὅτι περὶ τὸν> καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους πάντες ἐσκανδαλί σθησαν· <καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς> εἶπεν, <ὅτι· «πάντες> σκανδαλισθήσεσθε ἐν ἐμοί»>. Ἆρ' οἰόμεθα ὅτι μόνη ἀπὸ σκανδάλου καθαρὰ ἦν ἡ Μαρία; εἰ δὲ πάντες ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιού μενοι ... τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι ... Προφητεύει οὖν ὁ Συμεὼν καὶ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου Μαρίας, ὅτι· παρεστῶσα τῷ σταυ ρῷ καὶ βλέπουσα τὰ γενόμενα καὶ ἀκούουσα τῶν φωνῶν τῶν φονευ τῶν, μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Γαβριὴλ μαρτυ